Wake Up Stingray

[Verse 1] Consciousness came slowly for Robert. It always did anymore. He rolled in the bed and felt for the floor with his hand, just to make sure it was there. He didn't feel any carpet. This was not his room. Did the bartender let him sleep in the back again? [Chorus] Wake up, Stingray, ships and hangovers, bars to battlefields in a blink. Every time the gravity’s over, you come to with a stranger’s drink. Steel walls hum where the jukebox played, dreams traded for another run. Wake up, Stingray, you keep drifting, but you never really outrun. [Verse 2] No, the bed was a bed, not a cot. He slowly opened one eye. Through the haze he could make out the bare confines of spaceship quarters. He was back in the military. This was going to be a bad dream. "Reefer," he said quietly, "where the hell are we going now?" [Chorus] Wake up, Stingray, ships and hangovers, bars to battlefields in a blink. Every time the gravity’s over, you come to with a stranger’s drink. Steel walls hum where the jukebox played, dreams traded for another run. Wake up, Stingray, you keep drifting, but you never really outrun. [Verse 3] "Reefer's dead, Stingray," came a voice from the corner, "and it hasn't been morning for about three hours." "Damn," Robert closed his eyes tightly. He hadn't wanted to remember that. They had been on the same lander, leaders of different squads, Reefer's squad had been decimated, Stingray's untouched, but they wouldn't let him go back. It was after that mission he left. [Chorus] Wake up, Stingray, ships and hangovers, bars to battlefields in a blink. Every time the gravity’s over, you come to with a stranger’s drink. Steel walls hum where the jukebox played, dreams traded for another run. Wake up, Stingray, you keep drifting, but you never really outrun. [Verse 4] Robert looked around the room. The man that had spoken was still standing nearby. The man looked familiar somehow, but he just couldn't place him. He sat up in the bed, the familiar vibration of a space cruiser at his feet. "Welcome aboard the cruiser, Seven Wishes," the man said, "the work's honest, food's good, pays better than the docks." [Chorus] Wake up, Stingray, ships and hangovers, bars to battlefields in a blink. Every time the gravity’s over, you come to with a stranger’s drink. Steel walls hum where the jukebox played, dreams traded for another run. Wake up, Stingray, you keep drifting, but you never really outrun. [Verse 5] "Everybody has a say. If you decide that you don't want to stay on, we can drop you back off at the bar." He paused a moment, then finished, "The captain will be by in the next couple hours, and your things are in the closet." "Thanks," Robert said under his breath, but the spacer had already disappeared out the door. The manner of the man was that of an intel officer, that much Robert knew. [Chorus] Wake up, Stingray, ships and hangovers, bars to battlefields in a blink. Every time the gravity’s over, you come to with a stranger’s drink. Steel walls hum where the jukebox played, dreams traded for another run. Wake up, Stingray, you keep drifting, but you never really outrun. [Outro] He didn't seem too impressed with me, Robert thought to himself. Suddenly he realized why. "You stink, Robert," he told himself, holding his nose, "hope that water's hot."